Personal Scenarios
A: You are feeling overwhelmed, sad, anxious, etc.
- Reach out to the PMA Student Programs Office and they can provide support, guidance, and resources to help you. Contact details can be found here.
- Reach out to the Caltech Care Team, a multidisciplinary group of professional staff at Caltech, who connect students with resources and support.
- Reach out for help: friends, fellow TAs, profs, mentors, the Caltech Student Wellness center.
- Remember you are not alone - everyone has felt similar feelings at some point!!
- Occupational Therapy: for helping with time management (better organization of tasks could reduce feelings of overwhelmed).
- Take a break - but remember to communicate a break with instructors and TAs so they can fill in.
B: One of your students is feeling especially overwhelmed, sad, anxious, etc.
- Reach out to the PMA Student Programs Office and they can provide support, guidance, and resources to help you. Contact details can be found here.
- Encourage the student to reach out and be welcoming and willing to listen.
- Be sympathetic - understand everyone has times where this can happen.
- Encourage the student to reach out to the Caltech Care Team, a multidisciplinary group of professional staff at Caltech, who connect students with resources and support.
- Direct student to a resource depending on what the student is feeling - TA fellow, instructor, undergrad/grad dean, Student Wellness Center, Occupational Therapy.
- Work with instructor and student to figure out something that works (ex: if student had a family emergency, delay the next assignment).
C: Personal friendships & relationships with students.
- Ensure fairness in how you treat students (ex: friends who message questions on Facebook should be encouraged to ask questions on Piazza, so everyone can learn).
- Maintain professionalism while you are in a TA role.
- You have a equal responsibility to all students to help them learn.
D: If you or your students have experienced sexual harassment.
- Remember that people are here to help you.
- Reach out to Caltech Title IX Office and undergrad/grad dean.